The Choices We Make
by Anne Nonymus
Summary: When Hook finds out that Emma is on Tamara and Greg's hit list, will he be willing to jeopardize his revenge to save her? For Emma and Hook, no choice is as simple as they wish it were, and every choice has its rewards and its consequences. Tag to "The Evil Queen" and *may contain spoilers.* Rated T for a smidgeon of suggestiveness but will progress to M in future chapters.


**A/N: I am still working on Songs for the Saviour and Not your Average Storybrooke romance, but after watching "The Evil Queen" this little bit popped out. Not sure yet how long or short this will be yet. **

***A character death is supposedly declared...but you'll just have to keep reading. Please no flames***

****There will be some spoilers**, **just warning you****

**Disclaimer: nope, don't own it. The creatures who maddeningly are withholding Captain Swan from their faithful shippers are Edward Kitsis/Adam Horowitz and the ABC network. **

**Magical creatures**

"So, who's next?" Asked Tamara, her eyes practically aglow with anticipation, adrenaline pumping through her veins over her latest kill, the body of the once proud queen prone and lifeless on the gurney, probes still attached to her head like parasites.

"Regina was my choice, its your turn honey." Offered Greg, sauntering over to his partner/lover, the grin on his face wide and hungry. Apparently he saw the death of his nemesis as a morbid aphrodisiac.

Killian turned his gaze, stomach roiling at what he just witnessed. He was no saint-he had taken more lives than he dared to count and had practically turned torture into an artform. Nowadays, merely the mention of a visitation from the infamous Captain Hook was enough to convince one to divulge whatever secrets they might have held immediately. But there was something about Regina's torture and subsequent death that didn't sit well with him. Perhaps because he knew her, perhaps because he saw her with the same obsession for vengeance, and through her he was beginning to see the fruitlessness, the emptiness of it all. There was no life after revenge when one pursues it for too long. Once it is done, once your anger is sated there is nothing left. Regina believed she still had Henry to live for. Hook had...

His mind suddenly flashed on sunlit hair, and eyes the colours of the mermaid lagoon in Neverland-swirls of hard blue, soft grey and lush green, so deep it was near to impossible not to drown within them.

"Emma, let's get her next." Tamara declared, her face a sick caricature of childlike excitement.

"I thought you were only pursuing magical creatures?" Hook asked with as much nonchalance as he could muster, though he felt cold dread creep across his gut.

"We are," she grinned. "Oh Hook, you didn't know? She's the product of true love, she broke the dark curse-of course she has magic. Neal even confirmed it. According to him, she put up a protection spell when Regina and her mother attacked them at Gold's shop. She managed to hold them off while Rumplestiltskin recovered. Proves she's on his side, doesn't it? Besides, I think she suspects me. Might as well get rid of her sooner than later. Don't worry, we'll get to Rumplestiltskin next."

He plastered an appreciative grin on his face, though he felt as though the air had been stolen from his lungs. Had Swan really been working for the Crocodile the entire time he's known her? That didn't make sense. He knew that they shared a connection that she was all too quick to deny, and if she was truly aligned with Rumplestiltskin why has she not ended him yet? She has had ample opportunities, yet she has only stalled his quest, not killed him. Why?

"You know what? Why don't we leave her for tomorrow? I think a little celebration is in order for tonight." Greg chuckled, giving Tamara an oddly awkward to witness kiss.

"Mmmmmm...I think I can get down with that..." Tamara purred as they began to grope at one another.

"Join us for a drink?" She asked Hook, temporarily turning her attention to him.

"If the both of you will excuse me...I think my time is best spent disposing of Regina's remains." Hook piped up, wanting nothing more than to escape this couple's display of affection. "Don't want people asking questions do we?"

"Aw, thanks man!" Greg replied gratefully, walking out the floor with an amorous Tamara. He waited until he could no longer hear their footsteps.

Then he took the other tunnel exit and began walking, heading towards the docks. He wasn't sure quite what to do. His decision should be obvious, but it was the opposite. Tamara and Greg were the only ones he had allied himself with that hadn't betrayed him-at least so far.

And yet...the thought of them torturing and killing Emma as they had done with Regina, of the fight slowly being drained from such a brave and determined soul, of the light leaving her fiery eyes didn't sit well with him. Hell, it sickened him. Swan had repeatedly bested him, continuously thwarted his plans and still...the idea of her coming to any harm filled him with dread.

He knew that Tamara and Greg had conjured a definite manner of killing magical creatures with their science-it had rendered Regina powerless-and they were confident of its affects on Rumplestiltskin. Hook could finally be free, he could finally see it done. But was he prepared to pay the costs? Revenge or Swan, what was he to do?

He stopped walking and looked up not surprised that his feet had taken him here rather than the Rodger. With a sigh, he realized the choice had already been made.


End file.
